


Solo somos amigos.

by plum_blossom



Category: In the Heights - Miranda/Hudes
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Multi, WARNING: SPANISH, there aren’t enough Usnavi/reader ff out there
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:28:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28221663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plum_blossom/pseuds/plum_blossom
Summary: Usnavi and you are just friends. You’ve been just friends for four years and you’ll stay just friends, for ever, you’re sure.And you’re happy for him, you want him to be with Vanessa! Never have you felt attracted to the bodega owner, never like that.But what if your helping him get and stay together with Vanessa makes you catch feelings? What if fate wants it just as he’s finally not single anymore, you discover new feelings within yourself?
Relationships: Sonny & Usnavi (In the Heights), Usnavi/Reader (In the Heights), Usnavi/Vanessa (In the Heights)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	Solo somos amigos.

“Ay, if it isn’t the funniest girl in the barrio! (Y/N); ¿Qué tal?”  
Usnavi’s voice rings through the bodega over the noise of the busy streets and the music coming from the radio on the counter. It’s hot and the air is heavy with moisture; the sun is burning down on Washington Heights mercilessly. 

“Bien; ¿y tú?” You walk over to Usnavi and watch him pour coffee into a paper cup.

He’s dressed in a white tank top and jeans. There’s the usual wristlets around his arms and the newsboy cap on his head. “Oh, I’m fine, I’m fine.” He’s smiling sheepishly. 

You gasp, immediately noticing that he’s uncannily happy. “Something happened.”

“What? No, it didn’t! No, no. Nothing out of the usual.” He avoids your eyes and adds some milk to the coffee. “Aquí tienes.” He slides it across the counter to you. 

It’s just the way you like it, but you make no move to take it. Instead, you’ve rounded the counter in a second and hopped onto it, eyeing Usnavi suspiciously. “‘Navi. Tell me.”

“Qué?! Nothing happened!”

“You’re smiling from one ear to the other, ‘Navi, I’ve known you for four years. What. Happened?” You’re leaning over now, forcing him to look at you. 

“Don’t you need to get to work?”

“Not until you tell me what happened.” 

He sighs and falls back to lean against the wall. “Nothing. Just. Vanessa.”

You shift on the counter and finally take your coffee. “What?”, you snort, “Did she look at you?”

“She even talked to me!” He sounds dreamy and disbelieving. 

“No me digas.” You sip your coffee. 

“She’s so pretty, (Y/N), I don’t know what to do!”, he whines. 

A chuckle escapes you. “Don’t worry about it, you’re irresistible.” 

“Ha-ha, very funny!”, he deadpans and throws a cloth at you. You dodge it and laugh. 

“I’m just saying, you literally have nothing to lose. Like, just… Go and talk to her! For fuck’s sake, the whole barrio is waiting for you to ask her out!”

He looks at you warily. “¿Realmente?”

“¡Sí, Usnavi, todos!” With a sigh, you slide down from the countertop. “Thanks for the coffee.” You drop the money into his hand. 

“De nada.” 

You give him a reassuring smile. “Ask her out, ‘Navi.” 

“You’re supposed to be at work!”

“Sí, jefe.” Laughing, you make your way to the door, but before you leave, you startle and turn around again. “Usnavi?” He’s resting his chin in his hand, elbow leaning on the counter, biting his lip. He looks up. “Sí?”  
“¿Dondé está Sonny?”  
Usnavi blinks for a moment as though he didn’t understand the question. Then, he answers, “Oh, uh, I sent Sonny to pick up some things from the store for me.” He gives a weary smile. It’s sweet, you think for a moment and frown at yourself. _It’s sweet?_

You give a nod, shrugging off the thought. “Ah. Well; ¡Hasta luego!” 

“¡Hasta luego, (Y/N)!” 

The Rosario’s cab company is located just down the street from Usnavi’s bodega. Next to it, there’s a little car workshop. The owner is an old Mexican called Carlo Barrera with broad shoulders, ever stained hands and plaid shirts and a wrinkly smile. When you came to the barrio four years ago, he’d been searching for an assistant and because you used to fix old cars with your dad, you applied for the position.  
The smell of motor oil and the taste of iron in the air has quickly become like home to you.  
The girls from the salon would give you weird looks in the beginning, would trace your arms and rough hands with confusion in their eyes. They’d look down at your filthy blue overall with disgust.  
But soon, they learned to love you for your character. They laughed at your jokes and Daniela would gossip with you daily about who’s doing who and why. Even Vanessa has the occasional nice word for you, though you don’t know each other very well. 

“¡Mira quién está en la casa!” Señor Barrera greets you. He only speaks Spanish. “Llegas tarde, muchacha.”

“Lo siento, Señor.” You get to work as quickly as you can. There’s two cars that need to be all fixed up and ready by tomorrow and one of them is badly dented.

Señor Barrera and you work together in comfortable silence, broken only by occasional questions and answers concerning the whereabouts of certain tools. A battered radio is playing music in the corner of the garage. The windows and garage doors are open, allowing the sounds of the busy barrio to waft in.  
As the heat grows and the sun rises higher and higher, you shrug out of the upper part of your overall and tie the sleeves together in the front to prevent the lower part from sliding down and exposing your shorts. You’re wearing a gray tank top and soon your arms and face are stained in black with motor oil. You don’t mind. 

_“This is Benny on the dispatch, yo,”_ the radio crackles and you look up, wiping a stand of hair out of your face that escaped your bun. 

“Señor, subir el volumen, por favor,” you ask and the old Texan willingly turns up the volume on the radio. 

_“I’d like to mention I’m running the dispatch today, yo, honk your horn if you want it!”_  
Smiling, you listen to Benny speaking. He’s one of your best friends and very like Usnavi he welcomed you into the barrio warmly like a brother. You know he dreams of becoming a businessman, but he can’t afford business school, so until he’s got enough money together, he’s working for the Rosarios.  
It surprises you to hear that Nina is back. But the surprise comes pleasantly with a warm feeling of pride. You have to go see her soon and congratulate her and ask all about her experiences in college! 

For your break at noon, you drop by at Usnavi’s again.  
He tips his hat at you as you come in. “Princesa is on her break. What can I do for you? Coffee? Iced cocoa?”

You cock an eyebrow at him as you head over to the counter. “Such a charmer today.”

He shrugs. “You said it yourself - Soy irresistible!”

“Oh-ho, don’t let it outgrow you.” Grinning, you snatch away the newsboy cap on his head and put it on yourself. “Iced cocoa sounds good.” 

His hands immediately start working, the movements routinely and practiced.  
“So, did you hear Nina is back in the barrio?”, he asks conversationally. 

You lean against the counter and let your eyes trace the rows of bottles in the cooled shelves.  
“Yeah, I heard on the dispatch.” You lazily pick up a magazine from the counter. It’s called _Hollywood Now_ and looks like the sort of thing Daniela would read with great gusto. 

“She’s over at the salon right now,” Usnavi says. 

“Huh. Did you talk to her yet?” 

“No, but I’m sure she’ll drop by.” He hands you the ice cold cocoa. It’s sweet and refreshing. 

“So, you asked out Vanessa yet?”, you grin. 

“Psht! Of course he ain’t!”, comes a voice from within the back of the bodega. A moment later, the owner of the voice, Sonny De La Vega, stumbles out behind the counter. 

“¡Buenos días, Sonny!” 

“Hola, (Y/N).”

“So, your cousin’s a coward?”, you tease. 

“Sure is!” Sonny fist bumps you, grinning. 

Usnavi rolls his eyes. “Not fair.” He gives Sonny a slap on the back of his head. “¡A trabajar!”

“¡Ay!” Sonny stumbles unwillingly to the broom and starts sweeping. “Patán,” he hisses under his breath. 

You laugh at the two of them. “Come on, ‘Navi, be nice to him!” 

“That’s a two-way street.” 

Amusedly, you shake your head. “Alright, you two do you and make nice.” You pull Usnavi’s hat from your head and replace it crookedly onto his. “I need to be back by the workshop in a few.” You lay down a dollar onto the counter and slide it over to him. “Thanks for the cocoa. I’m ‘bouta be broke because of you.” 

“Lo siento mucho.”  
His hand brushes yours as he takes the money and it makes your guts tickle.  
That’s odd. That never used to happen before.  
You swallow, throw a smile at Sonny and Usnavi and head out of the door with the iced cocoa placed coolingly in your hands.  
Did you just imagine your stomach churning? Usnavi, Sonny and you had movie nights sometimes or ate dinner together. There’s been plenty of occasions when you and Usnavi touched. He’s one of your closest friends and you’ve grown fond of his little cousin as well, watching him grow up. But you really are just friends.  
And you remember when you first met him! Immediately the two of you were joking around and teasing each other and laughing and talking in a friendly way. It’s not like Usnavi’s unattractive, but you’ve never really considered it before either.  
You shake the thoughts out of your head as you make your way back to the workshop and munch on the sandwich you brought to work for yourself. 

Until dusk, you’re busy at the workshop. You don’t mind the long hours. On the contrary, it keeps you in action and prevents you from getting too lost in thought. And it almost pays the bills.  
You’ve barely noticed the time pass and it’s only as Señor Barrera calls your name and tells you that you’ve done good and you can wrap for today that you notice the sun setting behind the skyline outside. So, you wipe your hands on a cloth and change from the schmutz stained overall into a thin t-shirt and a skirt.  
The air has gone cooler and heavier. You can hear chatter in the street and you take a deep breath, looking up to the cloudy sky. 

The people don’t often get nice sunsets in Washington Heights, but when they do, everyone’s enamored by its magic. And so are you, this evening.  
The sun has bled through the blue with red and orange and has blown soft violet tones onto the clouds. Pitch black seems the city’s skyline against the colourful canvas of the sunset.  
You remember Abuela Claudia. Usually you ask Usnavi about her wellbeing every morning, but somehow you didn’t today. Anyhow, you’re sure she’s fine. She’s always been able to take care of herself, and more than that, she’s always been able to take care of others, too.  
“Alabanza,” you whisper reverently and stand still for a moment. 

You’re tired and want to head home, but you see the light burning inside the bodega and something tells you you ought to look inside.  
And sure enough, there’s Usnavi sitting on the counter by himself, visibly fretting about something. 

Carefully, you push the door open and step into the dimly lit bodega. “Hola,” you say softly. 

Usnavi looks up almost panicky. And then relaxes at once. “Oh. It’s you.” 

“Yeah.” You frown apologetically. “Were you expecting someone else?” The door falls shut behind you with a quiet click and muffles the noise from outside. 

Usnavi shakes his head. “No, I just… I should be going.” 

“Going where?” Carefully, you take some steps into the room. Your voice is quiet as though you couldn’t quite trust it. Maybe it’s the dim light inside of here or Usnavi’s strange demeanor that makes you keep it low. 

“The club,” Usnavi answers, “With Vanessa.” He’s fumbling with the rim of his red shirt. It looks good on him, you think and that’s confusing. You never used to think about that before. 

Anyways, you swallow and smile. “Why, that’s great! You finally brought up the courage to ask her! I’m proud of you, compadre!” 

“Yeah,” he gives a half-smile that shines in the darkness of the room. “No. Sonny did it for me.”

“But she said yes! That’s what matters, right?”

“Claro que sí,” he says, but it’s nervous and strained. He’s all over the place and you notice immediately. God, he really got a date with his crush and now he’s overthinking whether he should go. Fucking dork. 

“Come here.”  
He hesitates, but then he does as he’s told.  
He’s got an inch on you, but it’s barely noticeable unless you’re standing very close. Just like now. You raise your hands to his neck and smooth down the fabric. “Fix your collar.”  
He looks down at your hands, watches as you tug the flaps of fabric into place, then as your hands return to yourself, he looks back up at you.  
“I believe in you,” you say. “Look at you, all dressed up!” You give him a playful punch in his shoulder.  
“¡Ay!”  
“Don’t be a wuss.”  
“I’m not!”  
“Dude, you’re shaking from how nervous you are; calm down!”

He bites his lip. “I can’t. It’s Vanessa. Everyone wants to go out with Vanessa, but she… she… she is going out with me,” he breathes. 

You smile at him. “See? You have nothing to be afraid of. She chose you. And she’s probably waiting for you at the club, príncipe.” 

His eyes light up at that. “Right!”

“So, hurry to your princesa!” 

“Yes.”

You leave the bodega for the warm night and the chatter and light of the street. He’s bouncing on his feet.  
“Gracias, (Y/N),” he says as he’s locked the bodega behind him. 

You’re still smiling softly, happy for him. Truly happy. This is what he always wanted. To go out with Vanessa. Okay, it’s not the Dominican Republic, but it’s kind of what he always wanted. “De nada, ‘Navi.” 

Suddenly his hands are on your arms and he leans over as he sort of roughly places a “thank you”-peck onto your cheek. It makes you freeze. But he doesn’t even notice.  
“Muchas gracias!”, he just says and a second later he’s running down the sidewalk, red shirt fluttering behind him. 

You blink. And feel the heat rise into your face.  
Usnavi has kissed your cheek before. Many times. As a “thank you” just like now or when he saved you from creepy guys, pretending to be your boyfriend or when you left after a movie night and he bid his goodbye at the door.  
But never did your breath stop. Never did you blush. Never did you miss his grasp on your arms the very second he let go.  
You swallow.  
“No,” you say into the dusk. Defiantly. Certainly. “No. I am not falling for my best friend. No. ¡En mi vida!” 

It’s a decision.  
Well, it’s not. But it is. And you’ve decided No. 

You’re tired to your bones and fall asleep the moment your weary body drops into the sheets. It’s a deep, dreamless sleep. Restful. But not for long.


End file.
